I always explain to my guests that maybe the choking chance is slightly greater than normal when you’re sitting at my table. The words I like to say quietly to myself when I sit down to a major event-type meal, like Thanksgiving Dinner, or the I-got-two-rejection-notices-in-the-mail-today-and-my boyfriend-hasn’t- called-for-two-hours: “Never eat more than you can lift,” first spoken by Miss Piggy.
All quotations aside, though, some of the best humor and pretty much all of the best food come from a kitchen. Traditionally it’s the heart of the home, especially nowadays if you’ve got a flat-screen TV and wireless access in there. But usually the kitchen tends to be the messiest, most trafficked room in the house. Short of a daycare center, a brothel or an artists’ studio, I can’t think of a place that gets any more smelly, splattering, salacious activity than the kitchen. It gets used up pretty quickly and starts to show its age. But there are always a bunch of new gadgets, technologies and aesthetic possibilities fervently urging themselves upon us when we consider the use and appearance of the sacred chamber that is our kitchen.
This is where Steve Morelock comes into the picture. Former adman and real estate maverick, Morelock is presently the proprietor of Kitchen Tune-Up, a kind of revolutionary, cost-effective remodeling movement that originated in South Dakota. Projected sales on home improvement are expected to reach more than $381 billion by the end of 2012, according to some estimates. Smart homeowners, designers and construction teams want to streamline and maximize the trend. Kitchen Tune-Up, for example, embodies an organized effort to obliterate the “days of holes in the wall, unusable cabinets, dust-covered floors and contractors in your house for weeks on end.” An efficient approach to effective, relatively inexpensive home remodeling has distinguished Steve Morelock and experts like him from the conventional, more frustrating model of renovation.
“In selling homes, I realized how important the kitchen really is,” says Morelock, a Pasadena resident. “I’ve worked with other homeowners and agents on trying to refurbish existing cabinetry, blending worn areas with new surfaces. When I discovered Kitchen Tune-Up, I had done a lot of research. I just chose to get involved with this organization because it was the best thing I had seen. Our system, or approach, makes it easy for people to clean, refurbish, renovate a space in what can be a very dramatic way, in as little time as one day.”
Morelock’s Kitchen Tune-Up operation addresses everything from restoration and re-dooring, to full-on wall blow-out and modification of space, floors and countertops. Plumbing, electricity, and other elements of function and design can be addressed in a unique, time- and money-saving manner with this Kitchen Tune-Up format.
“Whether homeowners are looking to breathe new life into their homes or stage them to sell, Kitchen Tune-Up offers a solution that doesn’t break the bank,” says Morelock.
I must confess that for me, a kitchen tune-up could consist of some vigorous broom action and a thorough wipe-down of existing counters. Maybe rearranging the piles of bills, magazines and art supplies that accumulate around me could be considered renovation. Actually paying those bills would go a long way toward both tune-up and restoration in countless ways. But I’m probably not your standard homeowner.
Since cabinetmaker Dave Haglund sold his first Kitchen Tune-Up, Inc. franchise to a buddy in North Dakota more than 20 years ago, the company has provided refurbishing and installation services to nearly a quarter-million households around the United States. The company has been designated as the most successful remodeling franchise by Entrepreneur magazine for 19 years.
Morelock believes his success can be attributed to the relationships he’s developed with contractors, laborers and clients. Most people know what they want, he says, so you just have to listen and make it happen for them.
“I advise clients to think through their choices, to know what they want, especially regarding new appliances and their need for size, change, etc. It’s my job to follow through with affordable, expedient service that really rewards everyone who’s involved in the project.”
